Synonyms of bums

bums 1 of 3

noun (1)

plural of bum

as in cheeks

the part of the body upon which someone sits

I decided to get off my bum and get some exercise

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cheeks
• seats
• tails
• rumps
• behinds
• bottoms
• butts
• fannies
• backsides
• buns
• buttocks
• posteriors
• tushes
• breeches
• cans
• haunches
• heinies
• hams
• nates
• keisters
• booties
• hunkers
• cabooses
• rears
• duffs
• rear ends
• derrieres
• tail ends
• fundaments
• beams
• sterns
• moons

bums

2 of 3

noun (2)

plural of bum

1

as in beggars

an idle worthless person

if you expect an allowance, you have to do some chores and stop being such a bum

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beggars
• derelicts
• hoboes
• dodgers
• vagrants
• slackers
• no-goods
• no-accounts
• tramps
• good-for-nothings
• no-goodniks
• do-nothings
• ne'er-do-wells
• drifters
• vagabonds
• transients
• panhandlers
• waifs
• urchins
• ragamuffins
• shirkers
• paupers
• loafers
• idlers
• roamers
• sundowners
• sluggards
• indigents
• slouches
• slugs
• goldbricks
• lazybones
• down-and-outs
• drones
• gamines

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• successes
• winners

2

as in hoboes

a homeless wanderer who may beg or steal for a living

I feel sorry for bums and occasionally give them money

Synonyms & Similar Words

• beggars
• hoboes
• tramps
• vagrants
• vagabonds
• transients
• derelicts
• swagmen
• swaggies
• drifters
• sundowners
• bummers
• dodgers
• panhandlers
• mendicants
• bindle stiffs
• urchins
• waifs
• stiffs
• roamers
• shirkers
• slackers
• ragamuffins
• malingerers
• gamines

bums

3 of 3

verb

present tense third-person singular of bum

as in lounges

to spend time doing nothing

spent most of the summer just bumming around the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lounges
• lazies
• loafs
• lazes
• chills
• strolls
• rests
• plays
• goofs (off)
• lolls
• kicks back
• fools
• dawdles
• idles
• messes
• hangs (around or out)
• kills time
• pokes
• hangs about
• drones
• monkeys
• relaxes
• hacks (around)
• footles
• dillydallies
• mucks
• dallies
• lingers
• twiddles one's thumbs
• vegges out
• kicks around
• piddles
• loiters
• fiddles (around)
• dozes
• trifles
• estivates
• hibernates
• lags
• saunters
• swans
• potters (around)
• putters (around)
• truants
• ambles
• malingers
• goldbricks
• moseys
• tarries
• furloughs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slaves
• humps
• works
• sweats
• pegs
• plows
• plugs
• hustles
• grubs
• grinds
• labors
• toils
• plods
• drudges
• applies
• buckles (down)
• travails
• moils
• exerts
• puts out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of bums

Noun

The Coliseum stayed in business for 500 years, bums in seats twice a week, watching people hack each other to death. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026

History buffs, avid hikers, music lovers, wine aficionados, and beach bums will all find a town to love in the Old Dominion. — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 9 May 2026

For ski bums looking to hit the Colorado slopes without slogging through I-70 traffic, there’s no better destination than Winter Park. — Sarah Cahalan, Travel + Leisure, 7 Mar. 2026

Expensive trip to modern backcountry huts Backcountry skiing is no longer just for ski bums. — Sacbee.com, 28 Feb. 2026

And, then, of course, the park was full of bums like us. — Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026

As older leaders retire, the days of bums on seats five days a week are likely to fade with them. — Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 17 Feb. 2026

In later years, the shearling coat in its more Western iteration became a fashion statement beloved by hippies and boho ski bums, and was notably worn with great aplomb by Robert Redford in the 1969 classic Downhill Racer. — Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 12 Jan. 2026

With both travel and programming budgets under pressure, all markets have to make a strong case to get buyer and seller bums on seats (or, more accurately, into screening booths and meeting rooms). — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025

Verb

Critical thinking really bums them out. — Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026

Then Jason and Thor shower together, each lathering the other’s back and bums up with fewer orgasms than an old Herbal Essences commercial. — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2026

The cranky and irritating backseat driver, who bums a lift midway through the Griswolds' adventure, also has with her the easily excitable pooch Dinky. — Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Sep. 2025

The only thing that bums me and Michael out is all the stuff that got cut for time. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019